KUCHING: Malaysia's genomic diversity makes it a potential world-class hub for clinical research, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said no other country had arguably one-third of the global genomic profile as in Malaysia.

"One-third of the world is either Chinese or Indian and we have that here, and then we have a huge other chunk which is Malay.

"The experts tell me this is sound science because genetic differences make a difference as far as the efficacy of the treatment is concerned," he said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Clinical Research Malaysia (CRM), Novartis Malaysia and the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) here on Monday (Sept 5).

Khairy said Malaysia also had some of the best principal investigators in the world, including at SGH.

In addition, he said Malaysia was relatively low-cost for clinical research and trials, while the time to trial in Malaysia was one of the fastest in the world.

"This has resulted in Malaysia now being the number two country in Southeast Asia for the number of industry-sponsored clinical trials.

"I've given CRM the challenge of becoming number one within the next three years," he said.

With the MOU, Khairy said SGH would become Novartis' preferred site for clinical research, making it a centre of excellence in the country catering for different phases of clinical trials.

"By having this site established in Sarawak, not only will the health equality gap in Sarawak be addressed, but also Malaysia can leverage it by attracting talent that range from medical specialists to researchers who would be encouraged to work in this region," he added.